Church-pew



NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

ISRAEL LANCASTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.v

CHURCH-PEW.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,571, dated September 22, 18 5.' 7

Application filed April 13, 1 885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, ISRAEL LANCASTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Inlprovements in Ghurch-Pews, of which I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My present invention has for its object to furnish a church-pew of such improved construction that it can be readily adapted for use in a church having any floor plan or arrangement of seats, and can therefore be economically kept in stock, and that shall be so light and capable of such compact arrangement for shipment that the cost of transportation will be comparatively slight.

To this end my invention consists,primarily, in forming the body of a church-pew of separate sections,which may be packed in small compass for shipment, and which, when put together with suitable braces at their joints, will form a continuous pew of substantial construction.

My invention also consists in the various details of construction hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

l igure 1 is a perspective view of a churchpew made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line a: a: of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing the manner of joining the back-sections, the rail-sections, and the cover-blocks. Fig. 4is a view in vertical section on line g 3 of Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section on line z z of Fig. 6. 'Fig. 6 is a plan view showing my invention as applied to the formation of a curved pew.

A designates the seat and A the back sections of my improved pew, and for the purpose of lightness and strength I have preferred to form these sections of three or more sheets of wood veneer, preferably of about one-eighth of an inch thickness each,having their grains crossed.

If desired, the seat and back sections may be formed of continuous veneers properly bent be in separate pieces, as shown.

When referring hereinafter to the pew as formed of separate seat and back sections, I- do not wish to be understood as meaniugthat the several sections are each formed of separate parts, but that the sections which comprise the seat and back are formed separate from each other.

The seat and back sections at the ends of the pew may be connected to the end pieces, B, in any suitable manner. The abutting ends of the sections are connected by means of the braces 0, formed preferably in the manner shownthat is to'say, of the continuous backsupport c,properly shaped to fit the back and extending to the floor, a front leg, 0, also restconstituting the seat-support. It'will be understood, however, that my invention is not restricted to this precise construction of brace, as it may be readily varied by the skilled artisan, and, if desired, some of the braces need not be extended to the floor, but may be suitably connected with the others by means of cross-strips placed beneath the seats.

The joint of the back-sections is covered on the front side by means of the thin strips D, the edges of which will be rounded or beveled, so as not to be felt by the occupant of the pew. The abutting edges of the seat-sections need not be covered, as they will be flush, and will usually be hidden by the upholstered cushion.

On the top of each back-section A is fitted a rail or cap section, E, that may be formed of any soft or cheap wood covered with a sheet of veneer. The front of this rail or cap section will be cut away, as shown at e, and will be rabbeted, as at e, to receive the upper edge of the back-section A, the face of which should come flush with the surface of the rail. The ends of adjoining rail-sections will be received by the cover-blocks F, suitably bored out for this purpose, and cut away, as shown atf, to receive the tops of the braces O. The face portion f of each block will preferably come flush with the surface of the corresponding strip D, as seen in Fig. 2.

In order to make a straight pew of any de-' after the well-known manner of constructingchair or car seats; but I prefer that they should mg on the floor, and a transverse piece, 0

sired length,the requisite number of seat and back sections A and A (preferably each about eighteen inches long) will be joined together with a brace, G, beneath each joint. The block F will next be placed at the top of thejoiut, the ends of the rail-sections will be inserted in the block, and the several parts will be nailed securely together, after which the coverstrips D will be fixed over the joints of the back-sections, as shown.

If a curved pew is to be formed, as seen in Fig. 6, the several parts will be fitted together, as already described, after the abutting edges of the seat-sections have been first beveled, if

. the curve is sufficient to require it, to allow them to fit more snugly. As the circles upon which the pews are set are rarely of less than twenty-five feet radius, the angles formed by the abutting sections are such that a person can sit in any part of the pew without discomfort.

By my present invention the manufacturer of church-furniture will be enabled to keep in stock pews in sufficient number to allow large orders f r pews of any length or arrangement to be promptly filled, and for shipment the various parts can be packed togetherin such small compass as to occupy comparatively little space in transportation. The seat and back sections can be readily packed or nested in bales, and the braces and ends can be closely packed together, so that the parts snificient to 'form a number of pews will occupy comparatively little space.

I do not wish to be understood as restricting my invention to the precise details of construction above set out, as these can be varied without departing from the scope of my improvement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pew formed of the separate seatand back sections provided at their joints with braces whereon the abutting edges of both the seat and back sections rest, and whereby the joints are covered on one side, substantially as described.

2. A pew formed of separate seat and back sections provided with braces at the back of and beneath their'joints, and with cover-strips at the front of the back-section joints, sub stantially as described.

3. A pew formed of separate seat and back sections provided with braces at their joints and with rail-sections at their tops, and with suitable blocksto cover the joints of the railsections, substantially as described.

4. A pew formed of the separate seat and back sections, the braces at the back of and beneath their joints and extending to the floor, the rail-sections, and the cover-blocks bored out to receive said rail-sections, substantially as described.

ISRAEL LANCASTER. WVitnesses:

GEO. P. FISHER, Jr., L. HOLMBOR. 

